Ten years ago, the prospect of owning a website for small business was close to impossible. It used to be an unexplored territory that was not very accessible, had limited potential and was very expensive. Fast forward to the present, the tables have turned. The Internet has now become the most efficient and direct way to promote, advertise, and sell.

However, many small businesses are still hesitant to get their own website because they cannot quite see how it would be beneficial. For a better perspective, here are some of the reasons why getting a website is a profitable investment for small businesses:

Visibility and Accessibility. Establishing an online presence allows small businesses to be seen and to be reached by their customers. Well, having a physical office space or store which can be frequented by would-be customers can actually do just that. However, these physical spaces are limited by geographical boundaries and could not really operate 24/7 unless the business invest on additional manpower and operation cost. Websites, on the other hand, gives small businesses their virtual office space online to make them accessible to customers round the clock. With websites, the customers can check out the company, what it offers, at what cost, and even place orders while the business owner is sleeping! And all of these can be done at a cost that is only a fraction of what most businesses would spend for additional manpower and operation cost when they operate 24/7.

Marketing and Promotion. Small businesses usually have a smaller area of operation, thus, their target customers are just a specific group of people confined in a certain location or demographic profile. However, even if the number of target customers may not be that many, advertising can still cost much. Traditional marketing and promotion are done by advertising in newspapers, television, and radio, giving away flyers and brochures, and hosting sales events. All of these come with a price and it is not at all cheap. However, when a small business owns a website, it can easily use all available online marketing and promotion strategies and direct all these to their virtual office space and make sales. It has been proven that having a website has boosted many businesses' sales because not only is the promotion strategies effective, they are also much, much more affordable than traditional advertising strategies.

Wide audience reach. Small business has the opportunity to expand the reach of their market. The Internet is a venue which is not confined by spaces and boundaries. What this means is that a small business in the USA can actually expand to the global market so long as its operation allows. By establishing a website, a small business has also opened its doors to accommodate a wider group of customers.

Quantifiable. Websites come with analytics that allow their owners and users to monitor the activities that occur in the site. This means that it is possible to see which of the posts in the website are effective and are frequented by customers. It can also monitor from what location the business is doing well. These and other information are available in a company's website, all of which are very important in analyzing the market to help the business craft better strategies for promotion.

These are just some of the advantages that small businesses can reap if they set up their own website. There are still more that websites can offer only if companies are just more open to this new world of advertising.